Fox on a Windy Ridge

The winter of 2016-17 in Yellowstone featured a ton of red fox activity.  It may have been due to the increased snowfall, which required more daytime predation on the part of the foxes.  I'm not sure, but I know I saw loads of these canids during my trip, sometimes six or seven in a day.

The highlight of the winter trip for me occurred during my photo tour.  My clients and I were driving through Hayden Valley in our snow coach when we spied yet another fox on the ridge above us.  A short ways further down the road in the opposite direction were two river otters (a creature that's been pretty tough to find in recent years in the park).  So everyone had a choice to make as to which subject to photograph.  Even though I normally prefer otters, I could see that the fox was about to head across the top of a ridge that was dramatically backlit.  The wind was kicking up snow crystals and I felt like a special scene might unfold... so I stuck with the fox.  It paid off, and this ended up being one of my favorite shots from 2016.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 200
1/8000th
f/5.6

Max